John 17:1-26
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the
time has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You. For you
granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to
all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may
know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I
have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to
do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had
with you before the world began. (1-5)
"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.
They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.
Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For
I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew
with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have
given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is
mine. And glory has come to me through them. (6-10)
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I
am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your
name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one.
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that
name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to
destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. "I am coming to you
now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may
have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your
word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any
more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of
the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of
the world, even as I am not of it. (11-16)
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the
world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that
they too may be truly sanctified. (17-19)
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in
me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as
you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world
may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you
gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me.
May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you
sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (20-23)
"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and
to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me
before the creation of the world. "Righteous Father, though the world
does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I
have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in
order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself
may be in them."(24-26)
The world we live in is a tremendous battleground where the forces
under Satan's power and those of us under God's authority, are at war.
Satan and His forces are motivated by bitter hatred for Christ and His
power and reign. Jesus has paid the ultimate sacrifice to overcome
those forces. Through Him we also have the power to overcome.
Jesus prayed to God that He would keep His chosen ones safe from
Satan's power, setting them apart, making them pure and holy. WE are
the chosen ones and it is our responsibility to enter into a personal,
intimate relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. Because of our
relationship with Him, we are able to go to Him and admit our sins,
casting down our strongholds and letting Christ's love live in us by the
Holy Spirit.
The lives of Jesus' disciples revealed His character. He is still present
in the world today, through us. He's calling us to be united as one body.
Just as Jesus is united with the Father and Holy Spirit, we too are to be
united with Jesus and each other. We, in our unity, are a mighty army of
the Lord.
The world hates Christ and anyone who follows Him. His values are
different than those of the world. They have chosen Satan as their
leader, and since Christ's followers don't cooperate with the world by
joining them in their sin, they are seen as enemies. In their eyes we
appear as a judge and jury to find them guilty of their sins.
Because we choose to follow Christ, we become set apart for His sacred
use, cleansed and made holy through our belief in and obedience to the
word of God. Daily application of God's word has a purifying effect on our
mind and heart. Scripture renews our relationship with Christ and guides
us, individually and corporately, down the path chosen for us by God.
Jesus asked God not to take us out of this world but to use us in this
world. Not that we should avoid relationships with other people, but that
we should be an influence on those people, a light in a dark world, that
they might see God as holy.
Jesus prayed for the unity of all believers, protection for us from satan
& his followers and for our holiness. The prayer Jesus prayed to His
Father is our "vote of confidence" from Him, that we can do whatever He
has given us, that we can come together in unity so, through Him, we
can go out and bring others in.
Holy is the Lord!!!! Awesome is the Lord!!!!
Can You Hear The Sound Of Heaven
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